VOLAPUK

2027

VOLCANOES

sion of the cords. The pitch of the male voice is lower than that of the female voice, because the cords are longer. A boy's voice breaks and falls about an octave at the period of life when the cords lengthen; and in old age the voice changes, because the muscles which move the cords lose their elasticity. Hoarseness is caused by roughness or swelling of the cords. The ordinary range of the voice is two octaves, while the ear can perceive musical tones for 11 octaves. The quality of the voice depends upon the strength and elasticity of the vocal cords and also upon the shape of the passages of the ear, throat and mouth through which the sound passes, a slight difference in these respects causing the same varieties of tone etc. in the human voice as in a musical instrument. Voice differs from speech, which is the production of sounds to express ideas. Animals have voice without speech. In speech the tones produced by the voice are changed by the action of the organs of the throat and mouth, as the tongue, lips, teeth palate etc., into a large number of simple sounds, which, put together, form words. These vocal sounds are divided into vowels and consonants, the different combinations of which produce the hundreds of thousands of words which form the languages. See Human Physiology by Carpenter and Voice, Song, and Speech by Browne and Behnke.

Vol'apiik' is the name given to an artificial language which Johann Schleyer of Baden invented in 1879. It was intended for use as an international speech. The words which form the vocabulary of Vol-apük are constructed from an aggregate of words belonging to the different European languages, especially English. In order that the language may be easily learned, local elements and inflexions are discarded. Austria was the first nation to welcome Volapük to any considerable extent, and the language soon spread to France, the Netherlands, America and England. The weakness of Volapük is that it begins without a history; and, therefore, without authority. Thus its usefulness is diminished by the large number of modified and rival world-languages, which have been stimulated by the example of its success. In Volapük there are 27 sounds, represented byaäeioöuübcdfghj klmnprstvxyz. Most of these letters have their usual continental values; but c is like English j in jib, h like the final ch in German, j like the English sh, v like the English w in we, y like the English y in you and z like the English ts.

The words in Volapük are formed from the simplest roots; and may be built into compound forms by prefixes and suffixes which have a constant value. Thus ik is the adjectival affix; on the infinitive affix; and so on. Nouns are inflected in the

genitive, dative and accusative singular by adding a, e and i respectively; and in the nominative, genitive, dative and accusative plural by adding respective^ s, as, es and is.

In 1884,- 1887 and 1889 international Volapük conferences were held; and a controlling academy was established in 1887. The directors of this academy during 1893-1903 were, first, Mr. W. Rosenberger and, afterwards, the Rev. M. A. Holmes. Under their leadership the academy modified Volapük into Linger International or Idion Neutral. The literature on Volapük in English includes Dornbusch's Abridged Grammar of Volapük; Sprague's The International Language; Seret's Grammar with Vocabularies of Volapük; and Hain's Grammar of Volapük. See Esperanto.

Volca'noes, vents in the earth's crust from which lava is ejected. The lava may flow out quietly, or it may be ejected forcibly. In the latter case much or all of it may be solid. Small fragments of solid lava are called cinders, but if they are as small as particles of fine sand or dust, they are called ashes. Volcanic ash does not, however, imply combustion. It is nothing more nor less than powdered lava. Besides the lava which issues from volcanoes, either in the liquid or solid form, many gases or vapors escape from the vents. Among the latter vapor of water is most abundant. Steam is, indeed, the principal force in the violent expulsion of materials from volcanoes of the explosive type. Chlorine and sulphur and various compounds of these substances are among the commonest fumes escaping from volcanic vents. Carbonic acid gas is also one of the common gases. Many of the gases are noxious, so that it is sometimes difficult to approach the openings whence volcanic products issue.

The solid material and the liquid lava which escape from volcanoes accumulate about the vents, and build up volcanic cones. In the top of a volcanic cone there generally is a depression, the crater, in the bottom of which the vent is situated. When a volcanic cone becomes high, the* lava may break through its sides instead of flowing over the top. Cones built up by lava flows have low slopes, often less than 50, and rarely so much as io°; cones built up by cinders often have steeper slopes, but rarely more than 250 or 300. When a volcano ceases to be active, it is said to be extinct, if the quiescence be permanent. When it becomes extinct, however, it really ceases to be a volcano. When the activity of a volcano is temporarily suspended, the volcano is said to be dormant; but it is often difficult to tell whether a volcano is extinct or only dormant. Vesuvius was thought to be extinct until the time of its destructive eruption in 79 A. D. When this occurred, it was seen that the volcano